finding balance

My name is Maria Mejia and this is my story with HIV! I kept my HIV diagnosis a secret from almost everyone for nearly 20 years. Diagnosed at 18 in 1991 and contracted HIV at the age of 15 in 1988, I...

How are you? I'm good. No, you're not! Yes, I am! I need you to gather your things and go take care of yourself! I'm fine! I'm not asking you; I'm telling you to get your shit and go! You're over here...

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be transgender? Living with HIV? In the rural South? Each of these issues alone can be challenging. Together, they are my reality—and it's crucial for...

[Content warning: multiple sudden deaths, including a stillbirth]​ I am traumatized! I have been living in fear and my heart is so full of anxiety for no particular reason! I don't even know where to begin. The past weeks have been a very challenging and traumatizing time for me and my family.

Yesterday I had my first doctor's appointment for my HIV care in a year. Between the pandemic, remote learning with my daughter, and moving from NYC to upstate, life has been hectic to say the least...

"Ciarra. Just sit your ass down and write." ... this is really how I be talking to myself. Cus I'm stubborn. And, apparently that soft shit don't work with me. You gotta get indignant. Yell a little...

As I, reflect, I am honored and privileged for the opportunity to be alive today. I am Grateful. This is the Here and Now. Sad to have known so many, that have not been granted this gift of aging...

Didn't you always know that there were ways to call desserts vegetables? One day I explored ways to use zucchini and found Zucchini Brownies! This was an easy recipe that turned out so yummy, and yes...

I've been living with HIV for (going on) 22 years now. I almost can't believe it, seems like a lifetime ago. I was just 27 when I was lying in a hospital bed dying; my children were just babies. When...

I will be 64 next month and living with HIV for 36 years. I had a lot of illness at the beginning of my diagnosis in 1990 when I was only 39 years old. I thought I'd die soon and never see my son grow...